The oldest — and perhaps most important — monument on the Hill of Tara is the misleadingly named “Mound of the Hostages,” a neolithic passage tomb of a much smaller scale than Newgrange (which is visible from the top of the hill on a clear day — but you’ll need binoculars). Due to the thick metal bars on the entrance, generations of Irish schoolchildren (and tourists) came away from brief tours of the hill erroneously assuming that this was a prison mound. This small tomb is similar to the satellite tombs that surround the principle cairns at Loughcrew, Newgrange and Knowth, but in rather better condition. The passage is very short (about 13 feet) and the chamber is simply where the passage deadends, rather than an elaborate cruciform chamber with carved bowls like some others. Despite its relative simplicity, the passage has a solar alignment, this time with the “cross-quarter” days (Feb. 4 and Nov. 8) which correspond to the Celtic festivals of Imbolc and Samhain, and boasts some fine carved rocks. Unlike Newgrange, which controls access to the chamber at the solstice by lottery, anyone can walk up to the Mound of the Hostages and observe the solar alignment through the bars on cross-quarter days — weather permitting!
The tomb is called the Mound of the Hostages/Dumha na nGiall after one of the most-famous High Kings of Ireland, Niall Nolligach, who — like all Iron Age kings — took members of other royal families “hostage” to deter aggression, hence his nickname, Niall of the Nine Hostages. The iron bars on the tomb entrance gives the misleading impression that these hostages were thrown into the tomb to rot, but the truth is that the main tribes of Ireland sent children to be fostered by other leading families to create alliances and engender goodwill, so treating them that harshly would rather have defeated the purpose.
One striking fact about the Mound of the Hostages is that it remained in use centuries after all the other passage tombs had fallen into disuse. Whatever the exact reasons for this change in burial practice were, it appears that Tara was considered more important than the other tombs; when the mound was excavated in the 1950s, the volume of human remains filled the passage and chamber almost to the roof. Indeed, archaeologists have found that our ancestors began interring people in graves around the mound at a certain point; whether this reflects new beliefs or the simple fact that the tomb had reached capacity is open to debate.
In late 2011, the National Monuments Service began work to stabilize and repair the front of the mound. The two slopes adjacent to the entrance had become very eroded, and the integrity of the structure was judged to be at risk. Workers removed the earth covering the passage and chamber, affording visitors an unparalleled look at the construction of the passage. Needless to say, this work was very controversial (note protest sign in the photo above right), not least because it began on the day of the winter alignment and blocked the solar alignment during the time when work was underway. (The workers charged with carrying out repairs are said to have had no idea about the alignment — although I learned that nugget of gossip from the protestors, so take with a pinch of salt — which, if true, reminds us of how little-appreciated this monument is.) I have not been able to visit the site thus far in 2013, but a recent picture (below) shows the new facade close to completion. Doubtless there will be a sustained argument over the integrity of the interpretation, as still continues over Newgrange.
Notes
[This is part two in a series of posts on the Hill of Tara. Part one, dealing with the history of the Hill of Tara can be read here. The third post in this series will deal with the Lia Fail, the fabled stone of destiny.]
Tags: Archaeological Heritage, Celts, Co. Meath, Ireland, Ireland with kids, Irish History, Irish travel, Tara
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